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It is interesting to read Tennessee Gentleman make the comment that the unorganised militia idea gives him the willies. I think it gives most trained members of the military the willies.
And it gives the elected officials the willies, AND THAT'S THE ENTIRE POINT. IT'S SUPPOSED TO. The entire premise of our system of government is to make the seats of power uncomfortable, temporary, intensely scrutinized, and not in any way a means of making a living. We are deliberately supposed to NOT have a "ruling class."
Cant be explained any better than that, IMHO.
No, what gives them the willies is when we vote. Which is why they aren't proposing much gun control these days. Our system of government keeps them in line. We can vote them out anytime. If we don't shame on us.
But whats stopping anyone from just ignoring the vote, if there is no fear they can PHYSICALLY be taken from power by force? A perfect example in right here in Eugene where I live. For the last 3 straight years, we residents have voted OVERWHELMINGLY 'no' to a county income tax, city income tax,and additional gas tax, and yet all were passed into law by the government anyways.Seems like the vote didnt do much, as all they had to do was just ignore it. Without fear or physical removeal, whats going to stop them from just ignoring our vote to not re-elect those who ignored our votes? Nothing. They have proven they will do what they want reagrdless.Yes, eventually enough stink was made, new votes were had, and the taxes all got dropped, but what if they all just decided not to care about re-election? we'd still have the tax inspite of our vote.The only thing keeping ANY of the presidents, or anyone else for that matter from becoming a dictator in the U.S. is the fact they know those with guns, be it the military or the people, it doesnt matter, would use force to stop them (and their personal moral fiber, but I wouldnt bet my life and liberty on everyone in the country being the same way, for all eternity).
And before someone says "see, like you said, the MILITARY would stop them!", well, what if the majority of the military decided not to? What if enough of them decided they wanted to be part of the new elite with all the power and money of the dictatorship? Then who would stop them? Yes, I know the scenario is mind numbingly unlikely in the U.S., but that doesnt make it impossible.History has proven time after time there are people willing to do anything to be sole ruler, and that lots of times the countries military will join them, instead of oppose them.THAT'S what the unorganized millitia, 2nd Amendment, and armed poulace are for.
Also, having been in the active duty military myself, I certainly wouldnt put so much stock in the disipline, organization, obediance, control, etc of the active military.I've seen PLENTY of events and people, as I'm sure you have, that are/were more than happy to do as they pleased inspite of all that.Just like the general population/unorganized millita, the only thing keeping them in line is their own individual morals, and the fear of death and/or imprisonment.Those in the military are no different than the rest of the population, since they arent genetically engineered to be soldiers, they are drwn from the general population.
I met PLENTY of scumbag sailors that ignored the rules all the time.Again the only thing keeping some of them in line was fear of punishment, or whatever morals they had, and I can give examples of some who even that didnt stop or disuade in the least.I also know PLENTY who had NO combat/weapons training AT ALL, as I was one of them.I never fired a single round in my 5 years of active duty, including boot camp, and received NO self defense or combat training of ANY sort (knew plenty of Marines who only had whatever training they get in boot camp, and whatever yearly or whater "quals" are rquired thereafter, if ther is any, so I wouldnt have exactly called them highly trained combat troops either), but some of these same "untrained" people, myself included, sure owned plenty of weapons, could shoot very well, and had self defence/combat training that they paid for on thier own, so I certainly wouldnt say that just becasue someone isnt/wasnt in the military, and traind by the military, and using the same weapons as the military, wouldnt be as good if not better than plenty of people in the military.
Just saying, theres plenty of evindence every day, all over the world that there are LOTS of people for whom morals just arent/wouldnt be enough to keep them from doing as they please, but luckily, for the vast majority of us, it is enough, and the fear of puishment (including death and/or imprisonment) just adds to it to keep the rest in line for the most part.